How to pay for your holiday with a valuation survey

If you’re looking for crafty ways to save money in 2019, then investing in a mortgage review is a must - as it could potentially save you thousands.

When the time comes to renew a mortgage, most homeowners don’t bother paying for a new valuation survey. Instead, most of us tend to either shop around for a slightly better rate, renew with the bank or building society we are already with or, worse, take no action and move onto the variable (and often more expensive) rate.

Of course, it’s understandable that hardly any of us bother to pay for a new valuation survey ahead of a mortgage renewal. After all, there isn’t exactly a ‘good’ time to spend an extra £150-300 on a technical document when you don’t absolutely have to.

However, before a mortgage renewal is ALWAYS a good time to invest in a survey as it could save you thousands - more than £2000 in fact, enough to pay for a lovely couples or family holiday in 2019.

How, we hear you ask? Well, reassessing the value of your home with a new valuation survey could cause the value of your property (as recognised by the bank and used to calculate your mortgage) to increase. For example, if your home was last valued by your bank at £200,000, but the new valuation survey puts your home’s worth at £205,000 - then you will own 2.5% MORE of your home than you did before.

Depending how close you are to the next LTV (loan to value) milestone, this small increase in % ownership could, in-turn, open up a new, cheaper mortgage rate that will see you save thousands each year.

To demonstrate exactly how much the average homeowner in the UK could save, we’ve taken the average value of a UK home (£226,906) and used mortgage rates currently on offer (December 2018) from the UK’s favourite bank (HSBC). Against these rates, we’ve calculated the saving you could make each month by gaining access to a better rate, thanks to a valuation survey that increased your home’s value:

The figures above assume the homeowner is already on and will choose the equivalent repayment mortgage. The calculations do not apply to interest-only mortgages. The figures assume the following typical mortgage terms at the relevant LTV rates: a 30-year mortgage term between 95-90% LTV and a 25-year mortgage term at 85% LTV.

In a nutshell, although a mortgage review could cost you a few hundred pounds, it could save you anywhere from £420 to more than £2,200 pounds each year - certainly enough to pay for a great staycation or even a family holiday abroad.

To find out more about getting a local quote for a valuation survey, simply complete our valuation quote form here.